New Movies: The Swimmer

"It was one of those midsummer Sundays
when everyone sits around saying, " 'I drank too much last night.' " So
begins John Cheever's short story The Swimmer and this picture based on
it.

The scene is Eastern exurbia, with its vast, manicured lawns, four-car
garages and, most emblematic of the good life, swimming pools. Among
those who drank too much is Neddy Merrill (Hurt Lancaster), a fortyish
adman. But unlike the commuters who surround him, he nurses no hangover
and fights no paunch. One day Merrill inexplicably finds himself eight
miles...